My name is Michelle I am 26 and I used to be a LAWL Counselor in Watuga TX. I live in Dallas, TX and work as an Admin assitant. I have put on some weight since I left and am at a desk job all the time. I want to lose 20lbs by my wedding and I know this program works because I have done it. I am here not only for support,but to help other in their journey. We can do it!

I'm Maureen and I just joined the site today. I was all psyched to join LA Weight Loss Centers and then discovered that they no longer exist in my area (Chicago). The three closest centers remain closed to this day??

All is not lost however, as I was able to find someone selling the plan(s) online. My copy was delivered via email 2 weeks ago and I have been following the eating plan..I'll be honest...sort of.

So far, I have managed to lose some weight, which has motivated me to start following the plan religiously.

I finally met the man I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with last year (at age 38) and we will be getting married this July! I would very much like to be down at least 40 pounds by then. Can anyone tell me if I am being too unrealistic with this? As I am doing this on my own (without a center nearby I do not have access to any counselors, assistance, guidance, etc) I am unsure what realistic expectations are. I would hope 2 pounds per week is not out of the realm of possibility.

My fiance and I joined Cardinal Fitness and are going M-F at 5:30AM. The exercise plan for me is to do carido (either treadmill or elliptical) each day for 30 minutes and then on 3 days add strenth training for 30 minutes and on the other 2, stay on cardio for the full hour.

Ultimately I would like to get down to a manageable weight, which for me personally (at my age and body type) is 150-55.

Best of luck to all of you who have started your own journey! May we all get to where we are going without forgetting where we've been!

You have come to the right place. I have been on the plan with out a center for the last two months and have done just fine. This forum has been invaluable for me. Giving me a place to discuss my fears, hopes and just plan nuttiness (plenty of crazy here). That said, are you sure that at 5'7" 150 is not too low? I am 5'8" and not planning on getting even close to that. But for me a maintainable weight is my only goal. I do not want to yo-yo.
Well anyway read through the postings. Ask lost of questions. Good luck. Maztsel tov.

I just wanted to introduce myself and, hopefully, you will not mind if I join in here. My name is Joyce. I am 35 years old and have 3 boys, a 13 year old and a 10 month old. I am a teacher and live in Florida.

I’ve done LAWL on and off for a couple years now. I start losing good, then sabotage myself and go off plan. Now, I’ve had another baby and am determined to finally get rid of all my extra weight now. It is something I have to do for my health. I’m hoping to find the support here that I need to finally be successful.

My starting weight on 1/7/08 was 267, my long term goal is 150, my 1st mini goal is 240 (only 10 more lbs to go on that one…yay), and my current weight is 250.

If you have any questions about me feel free to ask. I look forward to getting to know all of you.

Hi, everyone! My name is Erin. I'm a 33-year-old mother of 2. I work full time and have a fabulous hubby who stays home with our 2 little ones (ages 5 and almost 3).

I joined this forum 2 years ago, when I lost 100 lbs on LAWL. It was great! The weight fell off me, and I was very happy. But I had a few problems: (1) I ate the same thing day in and day out. I didn't mix up foods, so I found myself getting bored, and when I went off plan, I REALLY went off plan. (2) I became pregnant -- surprise! I ended up losing the pregnancy at close to 5 months. It was a shock, and I was totally depressed. So I binged, and binged. Here I am, 6 months later, almost back to my highest weight. I gained all but 7 lbs back out of that 100, and it came in FAST and furious!

I'm ready though! I'm back on track and starting again. I'm excited to have the support of all of you, and am looking forward to making new friends (and possibly rekindling some older friendships if any stragglers are around).

Hello! My name is Tracy, I was referred to here from the newbie thread. =)

I'm 24 years old, no boyfriend (yet....two possible interests, yay?), and I have been overweight most of my life. I'm also deaf, to boot! I'm a, well, you could say I'm a full-time college student, even though I'm taking part-time (really, it's only because I'm graduating this May, and have no other classes other than two I need to graduate!).

I've been overweight since I was roughly about 12 years old, and as a result, I wince visbly at the words 'diet'.....which is understandable, I suppose. =) I joined LAWL because I was curious about it, and I decided to give it a go when my counselor talked to me about how she lost a lot of weight on it (I think she lost about 100), and how she still needs to go on a bit longer, as well but she's happy about her health, and her success with LAWL. To be honest, I'm still a bit nervous, I've only been on the day 2 of the Takeoff plan, and I'm already feeling lightheaded and headachey (Blood sugar issues, maybe?), and I've had to slightly deviate from the plan to push the blood sugar back up so I could get through the day.

My main motivation for the LAWL is to be smaller than what I was when I entered college when I graduate....which isn't really possible because I've gained oh, probably about 40 pounds, and I'm not too sure if I can lose that much before I graduate in May! Overall, my goal weight is 125 lbs, so I've got a very long journey ahead of me!

I'm not taking the LA Lites (broke college student), so I'm pretty much on the "real food" plan, if I understand it right. I can't tell what color plan I'm on because I've never done this before, and since I'm only on day 2.....so yeah.

I live in Northern New Jersey. I am a married female who will be 34 years old this coming April 2008. I have one brilliant child who is the apple of my eye. I work full-time and I go to school part-time.

I have had fantastic results on the LAWL plan a couple of years ago. Of course over the years I let stress get the best of me so I gained the 75 pounds I lost and added another additional 50 pounds (yes I double checked that I typed in these numbers correctly ). I am restarting on the plan on my own of course (LAWL Offices are no longer around) and I have kept all my information/paperwork. I am very much looking forward to creating and getting to know the new me and sharing the very best of me with everyone I know.

Thank you "DAN2112" for the big WELCOME. I am going to log in everyday and make the most out of this forum. I used to belong to a center some time ago but of course stopped going. Now there are no centers around here in NJ to go to even if I wanted to.

It may sound lame -- but I am happy to be here. I am happy to be able to chat with others who are following the same diet plan. People who are able to answer my questions about food and hitting plateus. I can actually scream off the top of my lungs on this forum and say yes "I AM ON A DIET" and get respect, space and consideration.

It is so hard dealing with people who say things like:
"That's all your having" or "You can cheat one day, it won't kill you" or "Are you going to eat that plain without sauce, gravy or dressing" or "My plan is better than yours in which they .... blah, blah, blah" or KNOW IT ALLs who say "You should give me the money and I will put you on a Plan".

I hope you are laughing at this point because yes it can be aggravating and humorous at the same time. I tend to have silly prolonged outrageous sometimes heated discussions as to why I can't eat foods that are not on this plan. I even went as far as to trying to make friends with the people who also go to the center that I meet in the waiting room but they either are stuck up (ha, ha, ha) or do not want to take it serious.

But thanks very much for the WELCOME I see you have worked hard in your weightloss journey and I hope to be just as successful as you.

Hi Everybody, im new to this site. My names Tess im 22 from California. All my life ive struggled with my weight, always fighting it. IT was always the worst when i would go out with my family, to dinner or theme parks, i didnt want to take pictures or get on rides i felt like i wouldn't fit. I had started la weight loss last june, but i kept getting on and off of it, i never stayed on for a long period of time. im starting to relize im a binge eater, to push away feelings and hurt, to cover up what i dont want to express, if im not eating im angry. Im starting a detox program tomorrow, im hoping to jump start La weight loss after the detox on Thursday, Does anybody have any suggestions for me? I sure can use them. i hope to post more and get to know everybody on here, I wish you all the best of luck in ur weight loss journey.

Your story is just like those of many of us here.. I'm an emotional, binge eater too.. But it came to a head when I hit 300 a year and a half ago.. I finally found myself in a mentally able place to start losing weight..

You are so young that once you've made both the subconcious and concious decision to do it, you'll get off the rollercoaster and will just get to it...

You've made a good choice by hanging out here... There is a lot of support and advice to be gleaned..

I've learned that once you make the choice, there's no going back.. You will realize there are better ways to deal with pain and hurt.. Eating through those emotions only makes things worse..

This is not a diet.. This is a lifestyle choice.. Once you make that choice, the only way to succeed is to remove yourself from areas of temptation.. Get your family and friends involved so that when you are with them, they support you rather than put you in a position to cheat.

GET THE CRAPPY FOOD OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!

The first time you choose NOT to give in to a craving or a binge moment, you will get this little burst of happiness.. That's a victory to hold on to.. It's really a shot of endorphines that gives you that extra incentive to keep doing it..

Then you will realize other victories.. When you go shopping and your cart is full of fruits, veg and lean proteins, you will feel SO GOOD about yourself when you see other people with carts full of crap.. Sure, you may miss that food (we all do), but then remember the evil that food does, when eaten in excess.. Is it really worth a few moments of pleasure in the mouth? Pretty soon, you'll say NO!!!!

Join us in the "Losers and Friends" forum topic for general discussion and questions.. Post early and post often!!

__________________The hardest part of life is to live while you're alive. - Great Big Sea - "Here and Now"

I'm a new member of LAWL, I just started earlier this week. I'm pretty excited about it and really hope this is the last answer to weight loss I'll need, I've tried so many other ways but never had the motivation to stick to it before.

I'm a mother of two young boys age 5 and 2 and also work full time. So finding time for me is not easy as I work oppostie shifts to my husband. When I got married 6 years ago I weighed around 140, now I'm 187. I'd like to the extra 50lbs I've put on over the years.

I did lose weight a few years ago. I was around 150 and somehow, without trying went down to 126. How the heck I did that is beyond me and I've always figured I could do that again, but I never have lucked into that twice.

So I just wanted to say hello, I'm glad I found this forum here and I wish everyone a really great time in their weight loss journey.

It all started over a bottle of tequila in Mexico for New Years 08. My dad got me a little tipsy (I believe he was too) and we decided to make a new year's resolution. Our new year's resolution was going to be eating healthy and working out. I wanted to lose weight. He just wanted to build muscle. So.. here I am.

I started my journey January 3, 2008 by signing up with YMCA. Working out around 3-4 days a week. My starting weight was 185. I also started eating healthier. Then I worked my way down to 170.. simply by working out and watching what I eat. Over spring break, I gained a couple pounds so I am currently at 172.5

Two days ago I went to LA Weight Loss just to see what they had to offer, and see what the program was all about. Sold. I signed up and started the program.

My goal is to get in the 130 range. If I get to 130 and want to keep going...then great but otherwise I would be completely satisfied with 130. It's set up that I should be at my ideal weight by Aug 6th of this year. I know I can do it. I have a lot of motivation, support and just plain will power!!!! I'm not posting pictures throughout my progress. I want it to be a big surprise!!

Some of the things I love to do is play with my cats, go out to movies, dining out, going clubbing, hanging out with friends, going to Mexico, going to the mountains, family time, and drinking margaritas on the beach! I live alone, well of course I do have some cats but other then that I'm single and just working to get by! Hmm, I think that's about it!! See you around! =]]